


There is Beauty

by toobassoon



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Gen, Other, Trans Character, all three of them are trans, its a happy story really, its about being trans, its me I'm the trans author, mentions of dysphoria, mentions of transphobia, nothing too bad I promise, thats what this is about, trans characters by trans authors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-13
Updated: 2017-07-13
Packaged: 2018-12-01 13:38:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11487492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toobassoon/pseuds/toobassoon
Summary: Nursey loves themself, and there is beauty in that.Dex is a force to be reckoned with, and there is beauty in that.Chowder is relentlessly hopeful, and there is beauty in that.The frogs are best friends, and there is beauty in that.





	There is Beauty

There is beauty in being soft. There is beauty in tucking away the rough edges of yourself, smoothing them out and polishing them. There is beauty in being calm and unbothered in the face of hatred. There is beauty in smiling easily when someone tells you your right to exist hangs in the balance of your gender, of choosing a side when for you there is no side to choose.  
Nursey isn’t dysphoric. They are genderless and so is their body. There are people who tell them that they’re wrong; that they can’t truly be trans without hating themself and their body. To that, they laugh. They exist. They are trans. They are nonbinary. They wear what they want when they want to.  
Some days, that’s a jacket and Timberlands and sleepy eyes hiding under the brim of a green hat. Others, it’s sharp eyeliner, put on with love, love for themself, love for their body, love for who they are. Yet others it’s a skirt layered with a sweater and blushing cheeks and tall socks.  
Nursey always feels comfortable with themself. There is fear, but it’s nothing they can’t handle. Nothing a few words written in a notebook and whispered across a few feet of a cluttered room at 3 am can’t fix. Derek Malik Nurse knows who they are and there is no changing that.  
Nursey loves themself, and there is beauty in that.

There is beauty in being angry. There is beauty in standing in front of a world that wants you dead with balled fists and a hoarse throat from screaming right on back. There is beauty in punching someone in the face when they call you a name that makes you boil over. There is beauty in surviving out of spite.  
Dex came out at fifteen and he’s been fighting ever since. He’s had his fair share of split lips and black eyes, and he couldn’t care less. He knows there will be more. He knows that chances are, there will be concussions and broken bones, and if he does not learn to control himself, there will be an end. A funeral filled with people who don’t see the real him, a grave with the wrong name, a body stuffed in a pink dress and makeup covering freckles that deserve to be seen.  
Dex fights himself as much as he fights the rest of the world. Self hatred bubbling up in the quiet moments forces him to roll up his sleeves and throw himself into his work, throw himself in and keep shoving his nose to the grindstone until he is burnt out and tired, until he has to go and seek out a soft voice and quiet hands to hold his own until he feels alright again. Dex knows he is valid, knows he is loved, knows that he passes. But still, each time he looks in the mirror, each time he speaks and hears her voice instead of his own, each time he has to be wrestled out of his binder by his friends, he feels it. His own expectations. His own disappointment.  
There are times he is at peace. When he’s covered in oil up to his elbows, when he writes a good line of code, when his skates hit the ice and he feels at home. William Jacob Poindexter is full of fire and one day he may burn himself out, but until then he will burn bright and hot.  
Dex is a force to be reckoned with, and there is beauty in that.

There is beauty in being hopeful. There is beauty in realizing that you are not quite the person you’ve allowed yourself to believe you are. There is beauty in exploring yourself and the world around you. There is beauty in realizing the path ahead of you will be treacherous and to taking it anyway.  
Chowder is not a boy. He doesn’t quite know what he is, but he is not a boy and he knows that much. She changes her pronouns at will, sometimes a few times a day, sometimes going weeks on end with the same ones, hoping she will find something that settles right in her chest. They are scared of the future, of being someone who is in danger merely for existing, but more than that they are happy. Xe came to terms with the fact that xe is what xe are, whatever that may be, and xe are proud of xyrself for it. He isn’t sure what she wants for themself, which pronouns, what presentation, what future.  
Some things are constant. Caitlin. Hockey. Dex and Nursey. Ze don’t want to change hir name, not right now. Ey know that no matter what, eir family will be there, Caitlin will love em, the sharks will be the best goddamn hockey team in the world. What else is there, really? Besides love and comfort and happiness? What else could anyone want?  
They gather words and identities in the back of their mind, storing away definitions and pronouns and options for the future. Ne wonders if ne will ever settle on any, ever find one that feels right, but honestly? Was it a huge deal if she didn’t? Christopher Franklin Chow is not a boy, but they are a goalie, a loving partner, a happy person, a sharks fan, and to Chowder, that is enough.  
Chowder is relentlessly hopeful, and there is beauty in that.

The frogs love each other more than anything. They know the odds of the three of them finding each other were so slim, and yet here they are. They’re caught in an unforgiving world where things don’t always look bright for them, but together, they can handle it. They balance each other out. They keep Nursey grounded when their anxiety gets the best of them and their smooth exterior cracks. They keep Dex in check and calm him down when he picks fights with monsters he can’t beat. They use Chowder’s pronouns without fail, and when she gets drafted to the sharks, they cheer loudest at every game they can.  
The frogs are best friends, and there is beauty in that.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a one-night wonder: started and finished in under 2 hours. I'm in the middle of another, much longer project, but this begged to be written. I hope you guys love it as much as I do.
> 
> This is for every trans Check Please fan, I love you guys.
> 
> You can follow me on my trash bag tumblr @jonas-n-parker and my twitter @fricabytoto.


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